Learning about karate as a distraction from practicing karate?

Hi all. I'm hopeful to get some thoughts and advice here. I know this is a bit off-topic from the practical self-defense view of karate, since I'm discussing karate mostly for its exercise benefits. But I suppose it's also a general motivational sort of topic.

I started karate a few years ago. Once I started, I got very interested in (read: obsessed by) the history of it, the history of Okinawa and Japan, the links to other martial arts, etc. - it's a rich field of fact, legend and mystery, particularly for a guy like me who's obsessive about understanding things.

So in doing all that reading, I sort of lost my interest in actually doing karate. Partly it's because I'm not a big fan of exercising at all (I'm just being honest here), and partly because I'm debilitatingly introverted, so training with others became really hard for me.

But partly it's because I concluded that I was never going to be able to really do it right, because my study of the history of martial arts made me aware of all the devotion and dedication it took to really do a martial art, which I know I'll never actually put into it. In a way, I read myself right out of karate.

Now, I've come to realize (again) that I really need to exercise more, and I'm thinking about avoiding actual martial arts altogether because I'm concerned I'll get obsessed and demotivate myelf again. I think I need an interesting training format without so much intellectually stimulating historical context.

For a little background on me, I'm in my mid-40s, with an academic job and a family, and live in a safe suburb. I mostly spend time at home, at work and at church or with friends from church. No bars, no nightlife for me...I'm pretty dull, I know. The things I most certainly need protection against are heart disease, obesity, etc. Bad guys do exist out there, but the statistics favor me living a life safe from criminal violence but eventually dying from the effects of sedentary living unless I change. So what I need mostout of any training is primarily physical exercise.

But partly it's because I concluded that I was never going to be able to really do it right

I think you might have missed an important yet subtle point in everything you've read

Sure, there's effective stuff and ineffective. I suppose you can get it wrong, if for example you try to block with your chin when you were supposed to use your forearm. That would be getting it wrong. But martial art is not about getting it right or wrong. It's about YOU becoming the best you can be.

There are things I can no longer do 'by the book' due to physical limitations due to past injuries (not necessarily training injuries). Do I just give up? Nope. I train in such a way that I am learning to make the most of what I've got. I don't consider myself to be in any way handicapped or disadvantaged compared to my physical intact peers. They can do some things well that I can't do so well, or at all. But I've modified techniques to work for me, and I focus on becoming better than my peers at the things I can do. I'm not alone in that respect. Many of us have our limitations.

You mention being an introvert. Me too. I find it very awkward to socialise. All the more reason to put my pyjamas on and getting soaked in sweat while getting very close and personal and sticking my face in a sweaty armpit or having someone throw me to the floor. Martial art is not just about physical development. It's at least as much about self discovery I think. Learning your own boundaries, and pushing them back.

Don't beat yourself up. Don't compare yourself to some great master. Compare yourself to YOU. Become better in some way than you were yesterday. If you do that, you're not getting it wrong at all. You're getting it absolutely right.

I have done the same as yourself in regards wanting to know more and further understand whatever it is I'm doing and often end up going through the same process, not because I know what's expected of me to now accomplish what I've started or currently doing, but because I burn the candle at both ends and then get a mixture of boredom and annoyance due to me not making the progress I feel should be happening, when in most cases I'm learning quicker than the average.

So a similar make up, just with a different take... a variation on a theme if you like, some people may label us ''intense'' by nature, but I'd rather be this way than not :-)

Karate for me is something I really love, it's shaped me as a person from been a young kid and has given me many strengths, not just physically but with confidence, character building, social skills and meeting some fantastic people (mostly anyway) and much much more, it's not all about the physical, as I've said before, you play tennis... you play football... you don't play karate, you do karate... it's a way of conduct and carrying on in life, this is how I feel anyway.

I guess only you can answer whether karate is right or not for you, but if you can latch on to a quality club with good instruction, you can go at your pace and dedicate yourself as much or as little as you like. If staying fit and healthy is your sole goal, then maybe a fitness club like zumba, body combat classes, swimming etc... would be more in keeping, there's thousands of things available to get in shape. All the other choices to get fit would require you to committ at least 3 times a week in order for them to be effective, 3 times is enough for someone wanting to take up karate as a hobby, so... why not?

As for no night life or bars, there's nothing dull about that, each to their own and if that aint your thing it's not bad, much less likely to have confrontations or hassle and more time to spend with the family! Not to mention more money to invest in other things instead of drink.

Self defence doesn't end with a physical confrontation with an assailant, I believe staying healthy and defending yourself against heart disease or stroke etc... is just as important and must be considered as part of the whole picture regards self protection.

Funnily enough there's a thread on here called choi kwang do, it's a korean martial art that doesn't incorporate sparring but does a lot of shadow fighting, pad work and soft partner drills, it isn't really a fighting art but it's been developed with physio therapists and is apparently ''body/joint friendly'' great for getting fit and exercise but not really 'self protection' as such. Might be something you find interesting as a compromise betwen karate and fitness. I've posted a link to this thread below.

One thing that's helped me through all my time in martial arts is having a personal mission statement. Nothing too pretentious but just an overall "reason" for training. Or sometimes not training. For example in the early days it was for addressing my fear of violence and confidence issues, as I discovered I could actually kick a bit it became competition success. As that waned, and I realised I hadn't addressed my initial reason for starting, I got into Geoff Thompsn's stuff (fence, pre-emption, etc). Through that I realised my skills were very narrow so my overall mission then became to become competant (not expert) in any part of a violent encounter (and so entered my cross training years of BJJ, Thai, Arnis, etc). Stand-up, clinch, ground, stick knife, etc. I wanted to be rounded. Now as I enter into middle age, and my daughter is also training, my mission statement is very simple. Move. Just move. Try and keep up with the young 'uns and maintain what physical skills and movement I have. I have no illusions that I'm any sort of fighter or street badass. I just want to keep moving as long as I can. I could go to the gym, run, dance, etc but nothing keeps my mind and body occupied like martial arts. It's physically and mentally stimulating.

So I'd say stop worrying about how well you are doing it and instead just "do it" (as Nike say). The success is not in how well you do but that you are doing it at all IMHO.

I started karate a few years ago. Once I started, I got very interested in (read: obsessed by) the history of it, the history of Okinawa and Japan, the links to other martial arts, etc.

Taken in isolation this is a good thing. It’s good to have things in our lives that we are deeply interested in and passionate about.

MCM180 wrote:

So in doing all that reading, I sort of lost my interest in actually doing karate. Partly it's because I'm not a big fan of exercising at all (I'm just being honest here), and partly because I'm debilitatingly introverted, so training with others became really hard for me.

MCM180 wrote:

But partly it's because I concluded that I was never going to be able to really do it right,

There may be a few things at work here. I would suggest that the main reasons you lost interest was because you don’t enjoy exercising, you don’t like mixing with others, and you held the false view that only excellence is acceptable. I think it is possible to separate your positive fascination for martial culture from these other things.

I would try to separate your love of martial culture from the demotivation. I don’t think the two have to be linked. It’s not the love of martial culture that is the issue (that’s a good thing), it more to do with the unrealistic expectations you seem to have developed. It may help to sperate the threads:

You don’t enjoy exercising

You’re not alone there. It can be hard work and that is why the majority of people don’t get enough exercise. What people do enjoy are the results of exercise i.e. feeling strong, looking good, performing well, etc. If people feel they are doing the unpleasant bit, but not getting the benefits, it demotivates them and they quit.

My advice to people new to training is to commit to 6 weeks of exercise and healthy eating. Just 6 weeks. After that 6 weeks, you can quit and go back to how things were, but you have to do the 6 weeks. Most can agree to that and have the fortitude to do the 6 weeks. What tends to happen is that after the 6 weeks they can see and feel the benefits. That’s long enough for a training effect to manifest, so they see the value and tend to keep training.

Try to commit to 6 weeks. Watch what you eat and do a little exercise each day. You will start to see and enjoy the results, and it is that that will see you start to enjoy the exercising. You well learn to see exercise as a means to an end that you know will get positive results.

Don’t rely solely on the martial arts either. Do some walking, bodyweight exercises, stretching, etc too. You have said your primary aim is health and fitness, so do all you can to move things in the right direction. Try to do at least 20 mins each day. Every second spent exercising is moving you in the right direction; even if that is not immediately obvious. Same with every healthy food choice made.

You don’t like mixing with others

Martial arts are largely a solo pursuit and don’t require the interaction that team sports do. They can strike a nice balance for the introverted, because you get the help of others and the motivation they can provide, but it’s all about you and your individual progress. It’s not like team sports where you have to interact extensively with others. As already mentioned, doing some solo training is important and helpful too. Mixing with others in a martial arts class a few times a week will be helpful to you in achieving your goals.

You have the false view that only excellence is acceptable

Progress is what we are aiming for. Training is going well if the you of this month is better than the you of last month training. It should not be excellence or nothing. It’s totally OK to focus on being “better”. Most martial arts are not masters or world-champions. Try to focus on enjoying the training and know it is totally OK to be “OK” at the martial arts. That’s what the majority of martial artists aim for. They don’t dedicate their live to it, they are content to be “OK”. That’s a good thing. Don’t let the exceptional achievements and abilities of others demotivate you. They are the exception; not the norm.

Your love of martial culture

Again, this is a good thing. Don’t reject that. Keep it.

To summarise, try to do a little exercise each day and watch what you eat for the next 6 weeks. You should notice the difference then, and that will help you enjoy exercising more going forward. Try to accept that it’s OK to be “OK”. Everyone can enjoy the martial arts without being the next Jigoro Kano, Connor Mcgregor or Bruce Lee. By definition, the exceptional are the exception. Enjoy nerding out on martial culture too!

I was probably a little unclear about expecting perfection. What I knew I couldn't do was the devotion required. As JD says, it doesn't seem that you "play" karate. You "do" it as part of a karateka lifestyle. But I know that, because I have other, higher priorities in my life, I can't really commit to a karate lifestyle. I suppose it's possible to "play karate" - to go to a dojo and train a few times a week and leave it at that, get the exercise and not make it a whole-life thing.

Something else I should've mentioned is simple practicality. Most dojos seem to have mostly evening hours, but my kids are in ballet, basketball, etc. in the evening, and between that and deep involvement at church, I simply don't have time for another evening commitment. Every time I thought about going to train, I had to shuffle around other things, coordinate with my wife, etc. and that just became a burden.

So, to address that, I have found one of those kickboxing-cardio places that's open all day, and you can just drop in whenever you can. That might help with the scheduling issue, get me in shape, and give me a little different take on martial arts. I fully realize that, no matter what they say, I won't really be learning how to kickbox by just hitting bags and doing burpees. (Bags don't hit back, they don't move around the ring, etc.) At this point, that's completely fine with me. I'm not thinking of this as training, but just exercising, and I just need to get my lazy butt exercising. As several of you have said, I need to just do it. Even if "it" isn't karate at the moment. I'll be working out there tomrorow morning to see how it goes.

Another possibility would be to schedule private lessons. I think that might suit my personality and schedule better. (Not easy on the budget, but then neither is being unhealthy, in the long run.) If the kickboxing studio doesn't work out, I'll probably go that route next.

Again, thanks very much for your help. You've got a great group of readers, Iain!

Even at three times a week, your still ''doing'' karate and not playing at it. I understand what you mean with commitments to other tasks and priorities, however, I must say that if you want to do something enough, then rescheduling and organising things in a way that allows you to do that something is part of the indirect challenge karate or any activety throws at you.

Seems like the fitness aspect is what you're looking for and sounds like you've found something to suit in the form of the kickboxing, this will, at the very least, get you fit and create coordination and a foundation for you to possibly take up karate in the future, when the kids have grown up and work eases off.

Private lessons are great but expensive, 1 on 1 tuition makes for quicker advancment in most cases if you have the right instructor, but in my opinion a cheaper tuition via a normal lesson would be right up your street, you'd probably really enjoy it.

There's nothing stopping you getting the fitness from the kickboxing during the day and having the private tuition to start your karate journey going at the same time.

Hope you find what you're looking for and most importantly, as Iain put above, try to give it amply chance and stick out the regime of wanting to get fit, no matter how hard it becomes...you'll thank yourself in the long run.

I fully realize that, no matter what they say, I won't really be learning how to kickbox by just hitting bags and doing burpees. (Bags don't hit back, they don't move around the ring, etc.) At this point, that's completely fine with me. I'm not thinking of this as training, but just exercising, and I just need to get my lazy butt exercising. As several of you have said, I need to just do it. Even if "it" isn't karate at the moment. I'll be working out there tomrorow morning to see how it goes.

That's cool. If you walk into any training hall and ask every individual why they are there and what they hope to achieve, you should expect to get as many different answers as there are people in there.

It isn't (or shouldn't be) a contest to see who is most dedicated. If you give time and money to something, you should reasonably expect it to enrich your life in some way, even if only a small way. Martial arts training is no exception. It should be fun and make you feel better in yourself. If your training does that, then you are training right.

With regards to not really learning, because bags don't hit back, does that matter to you? I'd guess that depends on your personal goals. If your personal goals involve winning fights, either real or sporting, then you're probably right. But if your goal is to become more fit, agile, flexible and strong so that you can enjoy your other activities more, then it doesn't matter that you're not really learning to fight. Or in summary, well done you.

I have found one of those kickboxing-cardio places that's open all day, and you can just drop in whenever you can. That might help with the scheduling issue, get me in shape, and give me a little different take on martial arts. I fully realize that, no matter what they say, I won't really be learning how to kickbox by just hitting bags and doing burpees. (Bags don't hit back, they don't move around the ring, etc.) At this point, that's completely fine with me.

Training always needs to match individual training goals. It also needs to be fun too. The more we enjoy it; the more often we will do it; the more likely we are to achieve our goals.

Based on your goals and wider life, this strikes me as a very elegant solution.

MCM180 wrote:

Another possibility would be to schedule private lessons. I think that might suit my personality and schedule better. (Not easy on the budget, but then neither is being unhealthy, in the long run.) If the kickboxing studio doesn't work out, I'll probably go that route next.

Always good to have a Plan B too.

It seems you have a very clear vision and a very clear plan. All good stuff.